Hedi Sahly
Hedi Sahly is the vice-president of the LGBTI association Shams. In May 2015, Shams was the first organisation for LGBT rights to receive official authorization from Tunisia's interior ministry. However, the organisation and its members have since been subjected to systematic smear campaigns by religious actors and conservative political groups in the country. Leading members of the organisation have received death threats following public appearances in the media
In December 2015, Hedi Sahly was forced him to seek refuge outside of the State, out of fear for his personal safety. The campaign against Shams escalated after the organisation held its first conference in Tunis on 3 October 2015, demanding Tunisian authorities to release all persons jailed for their homosexual orientation, and to abolish Article 230 of the Tunisian Penal Code, which makes homosexuality punishable by up to three years' imprisonment. Previous requests by the Tunisian authorities for the judiciary to suspend the activities of the organisation, made in August and October 2015, were rejected.
Despite significant positive developments since the revolution in 2011, advances in freedom of expression have remained more limited than on freedom of association and assembly. The new Press Code, which was intended to liberalise the environment for journalists and strengthen freedom of expression maintained provisions on criminal defamation. It also remains an offence to distribute “false information”, a provision often used to prosecute human rights defenders under the past regime.
